Focs of Blanes

Blanes fireworks contest 2019

The 2019 edition of the Blanes Fireworks Competition will take place from the end of July 2019. This will mark the 49th edition of Concurs Internacional De Focs D'Artifici De La Costa Brava. As always, the event will take place during the Festa Major de Santa Anna, the 8-day celebration in honor of Santa Anna, the patron saint of Blanes.

Historically, this festival always includes the last full week of July. The exact dates for the Fiesta Mayor tend to be announced in March or May. This makes it a bit difficult to plan ahead. However, most people who want to ensure they get to experience the entire fireworks festival make sure to book their vacations to include the last two weeks of July.

The Festa Major always culminates on July 28 with the Aplec de l'Amor (Feast of Love), on the secluded beach of Sant Francesc, known as Cala Bona.

This is a very popular event, during the height of the high tourist season. This makes it essential that you book your hotel, B&B or guest house as soon as possible.

Blanes fireworks contest 2018

The rules and guidelines for this year's competition have been made available to domestic and foreign pyrotechnic companies. Each of the five selected companies will receive €19.000 to prepare their shows.

• Saturday, July 21, 2018: Moncada, Valencia, Spain.
• Sunday July 22, 2018: Cavriago, Italy.
• Monday, July 23, 2018: Pirotechnia La Pirotechnica, Switzerland.
• Tuesday, July 24, 2018: Hermanos Ferrández Fireworks, Murcia, Spain (Winner, 2016 and 2017)
• Wednesday, July 25, 2018: Pirotechnia Saraiva, Galicia, Spain.
• Thursday July 26, 2018: Parente Fireworks Group, Italy.

2018 Fireworks Competition Winner: For the fourth consecutive year, the competition was won by Fuegos Artificiales Hermanos Ferrández, Murcia, Spain.

Here is his winning show price:

On Saturday night, Pirotècnia Vulcano kicked off this year's competition, and they set the bar high:

Vulcano won second place.

Blanes fireworks contest 2017

The 47th edition of the Costa Brava International Fireworks Competition will take place from Saturday 22 to Wednesday 26 July 2017. The fireworks festival, known locally as El Focs de Blanes or Concurs Internacional de Focs, always It takes place during the Festa Major de Santa Ana de Blanes.

This festival in honor of the patron saint of Blanes lasts 8 days and always takes place in the last week of July. Fireworks show in Sa Palomera, the rocky promontory of Blanes that marks the beginning of the Costa Brava.

Competitors The International Fireworks Competition of the Costa Brava 2017

This year, 16 pyrotechnic companies applied to participate in the prestigious competition: 12 from Spain and 4 from abroad. As always, the winner of last year's competition, in this case Pirotecnia Hermanos Ferrández, has a guaranteed place in the current year's festival.

The lineup for 2017 is as follows, with each show starting at exactly 10:30pm:

• Saturday, July 22, 2016: Vulcano Pyrotechnics, from Madrid.
• Sunday, July 23, 2016: Tomás Pyrotechnics, from Castellón.
• Monday, July 24, 2016: Pirotecnia Hermanos Ferrández, from Murcia (Winner of last year's competition)
• Tuesday, July 25, 2016: Régie Fête Pyrotechnie, from France
• Wednesday, July 26, 2016: Pablo Pyrotechnics, from Asturias.

What you can expect. Let's be brutally honest. There have been plenty of firework displays at the Blanes festival that were, to put it kindly, not that special. But there are also plenty of shows that make it worth being there in person. Take a look at the spectacular winning entry from last year's competition, made by the Ferrández brothers' fireworks company:

Blanes fireworks contest 2016

And here is how Accitana Ma Angustias easily won first place in 2015:

5 nights of fireworks

In 2016, the fireworks competition returned to its original 5-day run. From 2012 to 2015, the festival lasted only four days, as a result of the financial crisis in Spain and its consequences. Dropping one day saved Blanes a lot of money normally spent on crowd control, security measures and other police duties.

Last year, the event attracted enough sponsors that the city was able to return on the fifth night. Record crowds This high season event, the Fiesta Mayor and fireworks festival, always sees record crowds. In 2016, some 100.000 people, more than double the city's population of 44.000, watched the fireworks display on opening night. Saturday night, traditionally the busiest day of the event, saw a record crowd of 250.000 spectators.

Useful information

The fireworks show starts at 22:30 PM (10:30), and the main viewing spots start to fill up about an hour before the show.

If you attend the

Official Website of the Blanes Fireworks: The Focs of Blanes 2012